For every choice
by random-k
Summary: "For every choice, there is an echo. With each act, we change the world. " "How will she remember us, after this moment? I have placed my pieces on the board, as expected — as have you. Is this what she hoped for?" "Love is just a chemical. We give it meaning by choice" How do choices shape Eleanor when Rapture falls. Ending fic
1. Innocance is

**Innocence is a chrysalis**  


* * *

 _"You taught me innocence is a chrysalis, a phase designed to end. Only when we are free from it, do we know ourselves. You showed me that my survival, my joy, are all that matter. I indulge, nothing else exists."_

* * *

 _I own nothing but my own Ideas_

* * *

Perhaps it should disturb you, how ruthless your Eleanor is acting. You remember how much hope she had at the beginning of this, how she had looked at you as her white knight, her savior. She still looks at you as a protector, but something In her gaze is warped. She's become harder, vicious, pragmatic. There's no mercy left in her gaze.

Perhaps that is fitting. Rapture was never a city for Mercy. Under Andrew Ryan, the strong rose to the top, and crushed the weak under their heels. Sophia took the great chain of Rapture, and made it efficient, but it's lacking Ryan's Passion. Rapture would have stagnated under her.

She will die with Rapture. Your Eleanor has make sure of it.

If there is anyone who is a fitting legacy for Rapture, it is your Eleanor. She looms over you now, though it is hard to see her between the rainy sky, and your fading vision. You reach out for her, but she bats your hand away, unable to accept that in this moment. She cups her hand against your helmet, in a mockery of affection, and drains your ADAM.

That's good, because for all you know, world war there has broken out. She will need the protection, for the world is not a nice place, particularly not to those who are different.

You come to, healthy and looking down at your suit. Together you walk to the edge and look at your Eleanor, without helmets obstructing your view. Bodies float up in the storm, the lighthouse ominously lit in the distance.

You have a purpose to fulfill.

* * *

 _"There is no name for what I am, but the world is about to change. And with your help, they will never see me coming."_


	2. and I choose

**"And I choose to honor you over her"**

* * *

 _"The skin of a born survivor. And now I'm ready to fight at your side."_

* * *

 _I own nothing but my own Ideas_

* * *

I watch Mother struggle in the water and wonder "is it worth killing her?" Father and I had killed a lot of people fighting our way out of Rapture, but they had all been on their feet and fighting. And there's no fun in this. Mother couldn't even put up a fight in her state. So I will take a leaf from father's book and won't kill her.

Father. I love him, and will always love him, but he's been different since I brought him back from the dead. He's not my white knight anymore. He is more pragmatic. He's willing to do anything for me, and even if I'm not particularly happy with the result, I find myself understanding why he did it. Rapture is not a kind city. Teaching me kindness will not help me escape it. Perhaps once we leave I can be the princess and father my white knight.

Or perhaps not. After all, I am no longer a little sister, and he is no longer my big Daddy. I gave him free will. He isn't just a Big Daddy anymore, he is a thinking being. Mother calls Rapture a house of monsters. Could we have escaped Rapture without becoming a monster? If I stayed, I know I would have gone crazier then Gil Alexander.

Are we complete monsters? We have our lines in the sand, things we won't do. Perhaps we are merely sane monsters instead of insane ones, and that makes all the difference.

I am a big sister now, and he is my protector. Unlike the other big Daddy's , he will always be my protector. Unlike the big sisters, I have no more little sisters to protect. They exist in me. I survive, with their memories. I am the survivor.

Do I still need a protector after this? Will we still be monsters after Rapture? Could we ever have been anything else?

People from above the ocean made Rapture. Perhaps there are monsters in the world above. Perhaps Rapture is but a training ground for it.

Father is awake now.

 _" You made a monster of me father, but I wondered why you saved the others. You left me in doubt. Didn't you want me to be like you? I knew I could save you; but if you felt regret, if you wanted me to choose for myself I would have to let you go, to let you die. "_

It kills me to say this, because I love him, but rebirth changed him. Is it because I forced a mirror on a man with no face, as mother said? Or is selfishness simply the nature of man? Everything he did ,he did for me. Is the man in the suit nothing but a reflection of my darkest desires? Or is he freeing me, teaching me to survive, a protector and guide?

Father what do you wish of me? I love you.

I hold my Adam extractor over him waiting for him to resist, to push me away, but he doesn't.

What made me think I could ever do anything else. I am nothing if not a survivor. He's my father. I love him. I need him. I can not leave him to die. I will not leave him to die.

What is a little sister without her protector.

I don't know if he wanted me, but he defined me. He was my father, and he protected me no matter what. He chose to survive, no matter the cost, and I can not and will not let those instincts go to waste.

I am not a singularity. We will fight our way to the top of this world. Perhaps one day, the little sisters can walk free, and be safe, but first the world must be a safe place.

And we will make it so. Together.

* * *

 _"The Rapture dream is over, and in waking, I am reborn. You will always be with me father, your memories, your drives; when I need you, you'll be there whispering from my shoulder."_


	3. Right and Wrong

**Right and wrong, wrong were tidal forces, ever shifting**

* * *

 _"You taught me right and wrong were tidal forces, ever shifting. To survive in Rapture , Father, you took what you needed from the innocent. But...When the guilty posed no further threat, you simply walked away. I wanted mother dead, but broken as she was, how could she hurt me. Now she will grow old and die, knowing that I rejected her. "_

* * *

You watch as your Eleanor swims up to her mother, and doesn't kill her. It's a bit surprising after all the woman has done to her, but you suppose Grace, Stanley, and Alex have done a lot to you, but in the end were not threats. You have lines you won't cross, few though they are. They weren't threats like the other splicers, and however regrettable, your Eleanor's safety and your capability of ensuring it, came before any other little sister.

You wonder if your unwillingness to kill the unarmed is a remnant of the big Daddy programming, or a sign you might have been slightly different from most of Rapture splicers. You suppose it doesn't matter now, because you're dying. You've been dying ever since you came back, and when Sophia smothered your Eleanor, it became inevitable.

You wonder if she will be safe , all alone out there in the world. Because you can't protect her, and Sophia is alive, and though subdued now, has a frightening charisma that may gain her allies on the surface.

You black out before you can think about it further.

When you regain consciousness your Eleanor looks over you, conflicted.

 _"You made a monster of me father, but I wondered why you saved the others. You left me in doubt. Didn't you want me to be like you? I knew I could save you; but if you felt regret, if you wanted me to choose for myself I would have to let you go, to let you die. "_

Your Eleanor's Adam extractor hovers over you, and for a moment you don't do anything. With your Adam, you can protect her still and guide her. You won't have to leave her alone. She will be safer.

But this isn't about what you want; it's about what your Eleanor wants. And Your Eleanor has her doubts. You are a man made monster, a relic of the past brought back to life to free her. Does she need you anymore?

Do you want her to one day become like you?

You don't exactly like what you've done, but can you regret keeping her safe the best way You can? But if your Eleanor doesn't feel the same...

Coming to a decision, your Eleanor plunges the extractor down at you, and almost without thinking, you push it away.

Perhaps you don't regret it as much as you should, but your Eleanor does, and that is enough.

She's starting over without her mother, and perhaps it's for the best for her to start over without her father too. Your Eleanor carries enough of Rapture in her veins, and has no need of yours, to be able to defend herself. You will respect her decision to be herself. To leave you , with Rapture.

What place on the surface would there be for a monster of Rapture like you?

 _"The Rapture dream is over, and in wakening I am alone. Mother I left behind, and you chose to die, rather than have me follow you."_

Eleanor drops her extractor and grabs your hand, pulling you along. It almost reminds you of year's ago- before you died- when you harvested angles together. But there won't be any angels where you're going.

Maybe one day, Your Eleanor can recover from the scars Rapture has left with her. From the scars you left on her as you tried to save her.

You have influenced your Eleanor, you taught her to survive Rapture, and in the process pulled her down to the levels of the splicers you once defended her from. Perhaps your…. Perhaps Eleanor is better off without you.

You stare into the water, one gloved hand grazing it. It's perfectly still today, completely reflective. Pity there is no sun.

 _"You gave me the greatest gift of all."_

If you could, you might be tempted to laugh. In this reflection, you are looking the mirror of a man with no face.

 _"Something I have never had."_

You don't want this to be your last memory though, and you struggle to find energy to move.

 _"My freedom"_

You turn to look at her, fearing what you might see in her face, but hoping yours will bring her comfort somehow. Even if it is just a helmet.

 _"There is no name for what I am, but the world is about to change. I thought we would seize it together."_

Eleanor moves to brush her bangs away from her face, and you stare, trying to memorize her with your fading sight.

 _"Yet as I sat there with you, I wondered if even I could be redeemed. "_

She reaches for you, but your energy fails you, and your last sight is of the lighthouse.

 _"Your sacrifice gave me hope."_

* * *

 _"But father wherever you are...I miss you."_


	4. to fight for you

**"I still remember you in shining armor. And now it's my turn to fight for you."**

 _"I will be damned if I let Mother take you away from me again."_

* * *

 _"Justice is a contract. Once broken, it can never be mended. You sacrificed so much to preserve the innocent, but to the guilty, you offered no mercy. I loved my mother, and I never wanted to hurt her. But with what she did to us, she gave up the right to exist. My hands were shaking when I did it, but you were there to steady them. "  
_

* * *

I never wanted to kill my mother. Even with all the horrible things she has done to others, especially Father, and I had never wanted to kill her. Sometimes, I had thought about it, but I now know I never truly meant it. It was nothing but childish anger.

We have left our marks on each other, but this final confrontation is something that can never be undone. I will never forget the final shudder of Mother's body, as her life left it. It will stay with me forever

It is not time to grieve, but to grow. No place to look back on what if's Rapture is gone, dying beneath the sea that we stand over. I am no longer a little sister. I am a big sister, with little sisters of my own. I need to protect them, teach them, and guide them, as father did for me.

Mother was a threat, like Stanley and Alexander were threats. Grace lived, because Grace was just angry, and had been trying to be kind to me. She had misunderstood who was at fault, but it was in ignorance. There are distinctions to be made here. Who is dangerous.

Mother had deliberately brought the other sisters down here, and if left alive could make more. She had no qualms about doing so before, and no problems with using me, her own flesh and blood daughter, to elevate her into power. Was there anything that could have stopped her from doing more harm?

It is not blood that makes one family, It is bonds. Father taught me that. And with him, I will teach it to my sisters. To Protect.

We will teach them to protect the innocent. To find and serve justice where there seems to be none. To bring hope.

Eleanor alone is not enough, I will need fathers help. And I know I cannot leave him behind again. I will never leave him behind again.

It seems disrespectful to just leave him lying there, so I folded his arms over his chest, like I heard some surfacer's did with bodies. Then lower my Adam-extractor, and softly, his conscious bleeds into mine. He doesn't have a voice, or give hallucinations like some of the others, but I like to think he approves.

We stand up together , looking at my knight in shining armor. We walk to the lake, and at the sky. It's pink, and yellow, and I think I see the sun. So this is the sun. I'm so happy the first skyline I saw was the sun, not the moon, or the rain, or the snow. Though I would like to see what a thunderstorm is someday.

We look down at my (Eleanor's) reflection, and the sisters come and stand around their protector. Everything was worth it. We are free. One of our little sisters taps my shoulder. I pull up, and she holds a doll. One of a knight in shining armour. She gives it to me, and We marvel at how small it seems now, how far we have come. Eleanor is not alone anymore, will never be alone again. She's come such a long way from being the child who made this doll.

It is an important piece of the past, but the past is meaningless now. Rapture is beneath me, and Father is with me. We will protect them, and We will do so Together. Its always us.

We have a future now.

* * *

 _"The Rapture dream is over, and in waking I am reborn. This world is not ready for me, yet here I am. It would be so easy to misjudge them. You are my conscious Father, and I need you to guide me. You will always be with me now, Father, your memories, your drives. When I need you, you'll be there on my shoulder whispering."_


	5. mercy was

Mercy was a victory

* * *

 _"You taught me that 'evil' is just a word. For you, mercy was a victory. You sacrificed, you endured, and when given the chance, you forgave. Always. Mother believed this world was irredeemable, but she was wrong, Father. We are Utopia, you and I, and in forgiving we left the door open for her."_

* * *

In moments like these, you wonder if your Eleanor truly gave you free will.

What does it mean, to have freedom? To choose mercy? To chose not to kill unarmed non-threats? Because you didn't go after non-threats as a big Daddy, and would never harvest your little sister who you protect. How did doing these things convince people you are not a monster, when they are what you would have done with the programming anyways? Don't attack a walking weapon, it should be common sense, you would think.

Then again, common sense was always something of a rarity in Rapture.

Was it the pragmatic outlook of preserving ammunition, that stayed your hand? Is it some great irony of Rapture, that the ones most capable of mercy and forgiveness, were the monsters they deliberately made? Was it mercy like your Eleanor believes? Are you capable of mercy? Or were you simply defying their expectations of you?

Would you have drowned Sophia, if you had been given the chance?

Perhaps if your Eleanor had asked you to. But she's never asked. She never cried out. Your Eleanor helped you hold onto your sanity after her heart stopped . Otherwise, you wouldn't have moved, wouldn't have fought your way out. It's all for Eleanor.

She's watched. And your Eleanor applied, her values to your actions. Here, in saving her mother, she has demonstrated a greater act of mercy and forgiveness then you could ever achieve.

Your Eleanor folds your arms across your chest, before she extracts your Adam. It's something you've never seen nor done to a splicer. Respect to a dead body was a rare find. Previously, you've left them dead on the floor, waiting for the little sisters to come. Do you deserve this courtesy?

The transition to becoming your Eleanor is soft, so unlike death. Together you and your Eleanor walk away from your suit. You are proud of your Eleanor, but you won't influence her. Your Eleanor doesn't need you anymore, and has much to teach you.

You see your Eleanor reflected in the water, and with her, the little sisters. The one innocent thing in Rapture. They are worth protecting. You will help her with that.

Together you leave the doll in the water and look at your legacy.

The sun is rising. You are glad your Eleanor will see the sun today.

In the distance there is a lighthouse. And beyond there, a whole world for you and your Eleanor to explore. Together you look into the dawn.

* * *

 _"If Utopia is not a place, but a people, then we must choose carefully; for the world is about to change- and in our story, Rapture was just the beginning. "_


End file.
